chicken fried rice

even though it is very hot here, the humidity is high, I am burning up and I still after 7 days have a migraine, we still have to eat and it is the day before payday....so what to make?

I had 3 chicken breasts in the freezer and if I could turn the oven on my first choice with a couple of chicken breasts would have been that terrific chicken & wild rice casserole that I have posted about previously...too bad I cannot and will not turn the oven on in this heat...
I was fantasizing about fall days last night thinking what would be my first fall day dinner?  definitely the chicken & wild rice casserole...

so back to tonight...it dawned on me that I had all of the other ingredients for chicken fried rice...so that is what I did...
and I was smart this morning while it was a little bit cooler, I made the rice, cooked the bacon and chicken and put them all away...so when it came time for dinner it was so much easier to throw it all together...

my fried rice

I brown the already cooked rice in small amt oil add garlic salt and pepper and then add soy sauce (I add enough to make all of the rice a tiny bit brown) and then added bacon, chicken, green onions, frozen peas, shredded carrots, some almonds and oh yeah of course some scrambled egg...

there you go...

after we ate, I went in and told (didn't ask (LOL) ) hubby the kitchen was his to clean up tonight...I get to sit since I do not feel good and I had kids all day and I am tired...

dinner was pretty good if I do say so myself...it hit the spot...

Sizzler

I was going to make chicken fried rice for dinner and with it being so hot and I have had a migraine for 6 out of 7 days, hubby decided to play nice and took me and Zoe out to dinner...
we got to the end of the street where we would have to turn one way to go to Anchos or the other way and go to Sizzler...I let the little princess make the decision and she picked Sizzler as she loves their buffet, especially the clam chowder...I was really looking forward to the nice homemade warm flour tortillas from Anchos that I just love with some butter...OMG...I could eat those and nothing else they are that good...
but Sizzler was pretty good tonight too and Zoe ate pretty good...she had 2 bowls of clam chowder and it was a nice night...no attitude from the princess and it was very apparent how big she is really getting, listening to her talk like an adult and when she walked away from the table, it kind of tore at my heart, seeing how adult like she is now, especially compared to the littles...she can be a really good girl...
hubby and I both got the senior steak dinner and it was good tonight, especially since I did not have to cook...

BBQ meatloaf

itis hot here today, in the high 90's and everyone that knows me, knows that is way too hot for me, but I am really missing cooking...but I just cannot heat my kitchen up...once I do that the heat just settles into the house for all night...
so I wanted meat loaf, I happen to love it and decided to put it on the grill instead of the oven...
this is the recipes that I usually use:

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/30-minute-mini-meat-loaves/d691ebd6-743b-4dc1-a04c-40ee7da480d5?p=1

edit to add:  in place of the pork, I used Italian sausage, without the casings of course...
my son who is sometimes critical of my cooking (thinks he can do it better than me) loved it and asked what I put in the meat...

and I also threw some potatoes on the grill so we could have baked (on the grill) potatoes and I will make some kind of veggies and I also have some garlic bread to put on when everything else is done...
will take pics when it is done...
didn't get pics as I was on phone with my sister long distance, when dinner was done and everyone started eating right away...

BBQ beef sandwiches

it is still very hot here, tho I do not expect it to cool down any time soon...it was supposedly in the high 80's today but it seems hotter than that...oh well...we still have to eat...and I am so tired of eating out...
dug out the crock pot and made this:

http://therickettchronicles.blogspot.com/2010/04/recipe-bbq-beef-sandwiches.html
and with it I also made:

fried potatoes and baked beans
corn onn the cob
cole slaw

by the way this is hubby's plate...remember I cannot eat after I cook in this heat???

still very hot

still continuing with the sandwiches in this horrible weather and we also eat out quite a bit...
a couple of days ago, I made pork chop foil packets with apples and onions and the family said they were pretty good...
I am continuing with not being able to eat very much in the heat...
tho, I am kinda stuck on the Stouffer's turkey breast and mashed potatoes...not sure why I even crave it on days when I don't have it in my freezer...
so where have we been out eating?
let's see:
Wendy's
Pepititos
Coco's
Pick up Stiks
Upper Crust Sandwiches
Farmer Boy's
Little Green Onion's
Sizzler
I think that is it...

so tonight even tho it is still very hot here, sort of felt compelled to cook tonight...was going to BBQ meat loaf and one package of meat was not good when I took it out of the freezer...
so I had to come up with a plan B and this is what I did...
made hamburger, rice and gravy...browned hamburger, white rice, seasonings, canned beef gravy and we all like to add chow mein noodles and sliced almonds...

too hot

since 4th of July, it has been extremely hot here...too hot to cook at least in the oven...we have gone out to eat a little bit, also had sandwiches...
we had tuna melts one night, turkey & bacon roll ups, egg salad, and tonight I made tacos...it was really too hot to even make tacos, but I pushed thru my discomfort and made dinner...
they wee pretty good tho in this heat it is hard to even eat...
that is all

tri tip & ?

happy 4th of July to you...

and of course we (or should I say I) BBQ'd today...isn't that a requirement of today?

so, I made slow roasted tri tip, we had leftover mac salad, a new recipe of cheesy corn & bacon bake, texas toast and cherry crisp

link:  http://sunflowersupperclub.blogspot.com/2012/02/cheesy-corn-and-bacon-bake.html

I wanted something different as the meat and mac salad I do a lot and was hoping to wow huby and son with a new dish...

one of my favorite desserts (well hubby's too but he likes it with apples) is cherry crisp and am sure Tim loves also...

link:  http://sunflowersupperclub.blogspot.com/2012/02/cheesy-corn-and-bacon-bake.html

hubby and son declared dinner a hit, so there you go...


it is funny without Zoe and Sam here they are at a friend's house that you can see the fireworks from her back yard...
I added a picture of a flag...every year a reality company places a flag in everyone's front yard...I think it is such a nice touch, and I look forward to it every year...it is so nice to look down the block and see so many flags...

chicken & wild rice casserole

what?  I hear ya...you are saying what?  is she crazy?  turning the oven on in the summer, when she says she hates the heat so very much?  yeah you would normally be correct but, we were only at 82 today and right now it is a very nice 67...today I did not turn on the a/c at all...yes, I did have a couple of fans around me but, it was tolerable...
I even sat outside with the kids while they went on the slip n slide for quite awhile...
so, I decided that while it was not too bad here, I would get the last of the oven meals out of the way, before it gets really bad here...
remember the summer it hit 110 and a transformer blew and we were without electricity for 6+ hours?  and some people were out for more than a day...OMGosh first thing I told hubby, "find me a hotel..."  haha and funny thing was I guess everyone had the same idea as us, cause we could not find an affordable hotel close to us at all...either that or the hotels raised their prices to take advantage...

so what was for dinner? I have made this one other time and we loved it so much, I could not wait to make it again...

http://www.southernplate.com/2012/01/chicken-and-wild-rice-casserole-and-becoming-the-crazy-daffodil-lady.html

one of the yummiest dinners I have ever made and tonight came out just as good as it did the last time I made it...
when you click to her site, check out all of her other recipes...Christy has alot of winners and I have never been disappointed in her recipes...she also has a newsletter you can sign up for and she sends you recipes once a week...really informative...

so please make this recipe you will love it I guarantee it...I made the version with the sour cream and I substituted peas for the green beans...

I have already said a couple of times on how I cannot really eat in the summer heat, it messes with my stomach and not worth the trouble...tonight however, I ate and a couple of hours later am craving leftovers...which this dish does make wonderful leftovers (OMGosh the next day???)  like heaven...

taco salad my way

I think I posted about this last summer too...this is the way I love my tacosalad, but it has no lettuce in it...LOL...
I love this dish and I used to eat it with the lettuce, the way it is supposed to be eaten I guess you would say and I hate limp lettuce and this turned me off only cause of the lettuce and one day decided to try it without lettuce and a new love was born...
love this dish so much that I crave it (a lot...)
we went to the commissary today and as soon as I hit the store knew what I was going to make tonight and let me tell you every loves this but they all do "it" in different ways...
hubby uses everything but adds lettuce and salsa to his...
Tim and Zoe only make nachos from theirs
and me, well you have already heard about me...

I brown hamburger, then start layering meat, grated cheese, tomato, grn onions, black olives, crushed tortilla chips and then I pour just the right amount of ranch drsg on top...so so yummy...oh I added a bunch of seasonings to the meat while cooking...

and by the way...do not judge me on not using lettuce in my salad...I learned from the best...when we
go to Marie Callendar's and hubby gets the salad bar...he does the same thing...he comes back to the
table with a heaping plate full of goodies but no lettuce...so there...

BBQ (again) burgers & dogs

just so you know, this is hubby's plate, this is not mine...and do you see that one of his burgers is upside down...haha...
he also does not have veggies on his plate, that is cause he has a second plate with everything else on it...he is not stupid, right?

when my kids were little, I always thought it a great treat when hubby offered (or I forced him, LOL)
to BBQ...but, and I am sorry to say this he is a terrible BBQ'er...the burgers would be burned on the outside and bloody in the middle...ribs?  OMGosh, they would be horrible...again, burned on the outside, very tough and red on the inside...chicken?  the same...
so I decided that I needed to teach myself the correct way to BBQ and I bought myself a book and once I learned there was no turning back after that...my favorite?  I love to slow cook a roast or tri tip or something like that for a couple of hours and have it so tender you can cut it with a fork...and my ribs?  fall off the bone they are so yummy...
tonight I decided since it is so hot here (tho not as hot as some other places) we are supposed to be in the high 80's, that I thought I would BBQ hamburgers and hot dogs...but I also did them right with grilled onions and some applewood smoked bacon, juicy tomatoes, lettuce and cheese...Tim bought some angus hamburger at Target and also got some new Hawaiian sweet hamburger buns...

wow...was dinner to die for...the hamburger was very good,juicy...and the buns were also very yummy...
homemade macaroni salad rounded out the dinner with some Bush's baked beans and raw veggies with dip...
nice night